Being businesslike

The Godrej Group has set up a family business board (FBB), with family and independent directors, to guide and advise the Group and smoothen the issue of succession. Adi Godrej, Group chairman, will head the board. Others on the FBB will include his brother Nadir, cousin Jamshyd, the latter’s brother-in-law Vijay Crishna, independent directors Keki Dadiseth, present chairman of Sony India, Naushad Forbes, director of Forbes Marshall, and Pradip Shah, co-founder of ratings agency Crisil. The fourth generation of the family, the children of Adi, Jamshyd, Nadir and Crishna who are over 18 years of age, will attend the meetings as invitees, as per a report in The Economic Times (ET), March 17, 2010.

"Experts and Godrej watchers hailed the move, saying a professional board with family members and outsiders would help the Group embrace rational thinking and decision-making. Indeed, according to a McKinsey report, only five percent of family businesses create shareholder value beyond the third generation. And many family-run businesses, bereft of efficient succession planning, have been mired in legal battles,” the paper analyses.

Nisaba Godrej (Nisa to family and friends), Adi’s 31-year-old dau-ghter, has been designated president of human capital and innovation. She will "soon take charge of managing 20,000 staffers at the locks-to-diapers group, as it prepares to remain relevant to 21st century India with its 100-year-old values,” reports ET’s March 15 edition. She takes the place subsequent to the retirement of Visty Banaji, executive director and president, Group Corporate Affairs, who is to take up a consulting business, including advising the Godrej Group, the paper adds. "As we (the Group) get older, our consumers at 25 years average age, are getting younger,” said Nisa. "Therefore we have been on a transformational journey to better serve a young, more optimistic India.”

Cool power: vending the compact and affordable Godrej Chotukool in rural India ; Indonesian and Nigerian company products mow in the Godrej fold

Going global has been part of the strategy. Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), a major player in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry, announced on April 6, 2010 that it had acquired the Indonesian household products Megasari Group for Rs 1,200 crore in an all-cash deal. "Megasari provides us a strong platform to establish a significant foothold in Indonesia which is among the largest consumer markets in Asia,” said GCPL chairman Adi Godrej in a statement. The Indonesian firm has annual sales of over Rs 600 crore and manufactures and distributes insecticides, wet tissues, air fresheners, etc.

In March GCPL had announced the acquisition of a leading African personal care brand, Tura from Nigeria, for an undisclosed sum. "Tura helps us leapfrog in our endeavor to build a pan-African presence for our core categories such as personal wash and hair care,” said the chairman. Tura and Megasari are the third and fourth acquisitions by GCPL in the past two years, after Rapidol and Kinky in South Africa, as per Press reports.

It is cool, cheap and small! Chotukool is the new, compact battery-powered refrigeration system from Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited aimed at rural India. Priced at an affordable Rs 3,500, Chotukool has no compressor, weighs less than eight kilograms and runs on a cooling chip and fan similar to those used to cool computers. It is loaded from the top and resembles a cool box. With power outages and load shedding common in towns and countryside, Chotukool uses high-end insulation to stay cool for hours without power. Village girls in traditional attire market the product.

"Godrej has the vision to improve livelihood, living standard and lifestyle in rural India… Chotukool has led the way in evolving the innovation processes. Our vision is to make innovation integral to the Godrej culture,” writes Sanjay Lonial, Innovation Leader, Chotukool, in the Godrej house magazine Change, July-December 2009.